great dane

Question
HI! We have a 7 month old Great Dane and have recently switched to 2 meals per day. He is on Fromm adult Gold Large breed plus missing link. I was wondering if you have reccomendations as to how much to feed. I have been trying 2.5 cups twice a day and his stools seem OK - about 3 per day. The bag states up to 4.5 cups per day but he is still a pup. As soon as I put him up to 3 cups, his stools get softer. I want to make sure he is getting enough food but have a hard time dealing with stool issues. He had a 3 day bout of diarrhea last week (mostly through the night and after advantage plus application and attempted switch to whitefish and potato). I think it was coincidence. He took Neovast and it went away. He was 83 pounds right before that and I suspect less now.H e hoovers back his food very fast and is always wondering around looking for more and nosing his food dish...
Thank you for your help!
Melanie

Answer
Ok, I think I see a couple of problems here..certainly not life threatening.

First of all, why the neovast?? This is totally synthetic and can make things worse. Diarrhea is ALWAYS cause by poor digestion for whatever reasons. Rather than treat your dog with this harsh medication I would rather see you supplementing his food with real food supplements:probiotics and a real food digestive enzyme--daily if not twice a day.

How is your dog's weight? If it's good then the 2.5 cups twice a day is good except I don't like the fact that when you increase the amt he gets diarrhea. Interesting how if you increase the amount he gets diarrhea..this should not happen if he is ok on the smaller amt. But because it is happening, it may be the food. His body may be able to handle the smaller amts and not the larger amounts and this may indicate that he is becoming intolerant of the food you are using. Just a guess.

Also, you said that you attempted to feed whitefish and potato. This in itself is great stuff but NOT IF YOU SUDDENLY JUST GAVE IT TO HIM. Dogs, puppies in particular DO NOT DO WELL WITH ANYTHING NEW UNLESS THEY ARE SLOWLY INTRODUCED TO THIS NEW PRODUCT. tHIS COULD be the source of the diarrhea too. I don't think it was coincidence at all. Some dogs have an extremely sensitive digestive system and react badly at the first taste of something new, given too fast.

Please consider supplements for your Great Dane. Also consider that the food you are currently using, when given in larger amts may be upsetting your dog. Also, never feed a dog something new out of the blue, even in an attempt to help him. Try to steer clear of diarrhea meds--they are not what you should be using--diarrhea is a digestion problem and this can be handled with a change of diet (have you considered home cooking or raw?), supplementation and feeding organically or feeding foods that are, at a minimum, hormone and steroid free. MIssing link is loaded with synthetics so this could be the issue too. Once I learned to read labels, I was horrified at what I was feeding my dogs...almost everything sold in pet stores is loaded with synthetics, no matter what that label says.

So, you have plenty to think about but consider all of this. Please write bnck if you think I can provide more direction for you and your pup. Instead of Missing link, think about REAL FOOD SUPPLEMENTS for him--you could very well be helping your dogs digestive system.

Let me know how things are going and don't hesitate to write again, Sue